On Oct. 28, he took off and landed three times as he took his pilot’s license test. His mother, grandparents, aunt and family friends excitedly waited to congratulate him.

A cake waited inside Shelby Airport to eat after Willis completed his test.

“He has wanted to fly ever since he was a little boy,” said his mother, Lisa Willis. “He has always been adventurous and likes scuba diving and hand-gliding.”

A red carpet was rolled out for Willis when he landed.

Flight instructor Gene Meade then cut Willis’s shirt tail as part of a tradition.

“In the old days, flight instructors used to tug on the shirt tail of the student as they told them what to do,” Meade said. “When the student passes, the shirt tail is cut off, because they don’t need the instructor anymore.”

A lot of young people don’t take flying lessons anymore due to the expense, Meade said.

The day after getting his pilot’s license, Willis was going to get his driver’s license.

“I like flying better than driving,” he said.

Willis has been taking flying lessons for three months and hopes to be a pilot one day.

“I would rather be in the air than on the ground,” Willis said after passing his test. “It feels really free to be in the wild blue yonder.”